Mumbai: The rupee weakened by 7 paise to 88.77 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, dragged down by rising crude oil prices, persistent foreign fund outflows, and lingering global trade uncertainties.
Forex traders said negative cues from domestic equities also weighed on the local currency, though a softer US dollar limited the downside.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 88.73 and slipped further to 88.77 against the greenback, marking a 7-paise decline from its previous close. The domestic unit had ended 1 paisa lower at 88.70 on Friday, a day after tumbling 47 paise following remarks by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Meanwhile, the dollar index — which measures the greenback’s performance against a basket of six major currencies — edged down 0.04 per cent to 99.59.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.31 per cent to USD 64.97 per barrel in futures trade.
In the domestic equity markets, the Sensex dropped 258.83 points or 0.31 per cent to 83,679.88 in early deals, while the Nifty slipped 47.95 points or 0.19 per cent to 25,674.15.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers on Friday, offloading shares worth ₹6,769.34 crore, according to exchange data.
Data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed that the country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by USD 6.925 billion to USD 695.355 billion in the week ended October 24. In the preceding week, reserves had risen by USD 4.496 billion to USD 702.28 billion.
On the fiscal front, data from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) revealed that the Centre’s fiscal deficit reached 36.5 per cent of the full-year target at the end of the first half of FY26. During the same period last year, the deficit stood at 29 per cent of the 2024–25 Budget Estimates.
